Minimum Wage Should Be a Living Wage; Economy; It Is Unjust to Exploit Our Lowest-Paid Workers; OTHER VIEWS

Article excerpt

The minimum wage has been $7.25 per hour since July 24, 2009,
even though the prices of basic, everyday goods such as food,
housing, utilities and health care have jumped 7.3 percent in the
past three years. As a result, the lowest-paid workers in our state
have seen the real purchasing power of their paychecks eroded by
steady increases in the cost of living. The fact that our
legislators are not taking action to increase minimum wages to keep
pace with inflation is a sad commentary on the values of our elected
leaders.

Sadder still is the fact that the minimum wage does not even come
close to what a worker needs to earn a living. In St. Louis, a
minimum-wage worker must work an average of 78 hours just to pay one
month's rent and utilities on a very modest apartment. This forces
workers to take second and third jobs just to make ends meet. Let's
call this what it is: exploitation. It is not only unjust, it is
cruel to expect workers to toil long hours only to go home and beg
for food at the end of the day.

What does it say about our values as a society when the wages of
the poorest members are suppressed while the richest ones are
enjoying record increases in their incomes and wealth? It says that
we value the freedom of upper class owners/managers to amass
unlimited private wealth more than we value the basic health,
welfare and dignity of the whole community. My question is this: Is
that the kind of world we want to live in? The United States has not
always been like this, and it doesn't have to be now. We can choose
to elevate minimum wages to living wages.

Some say that increasing minimum wages will cause employers to
cut jobs. The truth is that if low-wage workers have more income,
they will spend all of it buying goods and services for their
families. This will have a multiplier effect, helping to create
demand and stimulate job creation. It also produces tax revenue,
aiding local, state and federal budgets. Even if it were true that
an increase in minimum wages would cost jobs in the economy, the
lowest-paid workers would not have to work two and three jobs to
make ends meet if they had one job that paid a living wage. …